Sportlandia, which holds an Adidas franchise and which you represent, recently opened a large store in Chisinau. Why do you need another retail location in such a limited market? What goal is this new project intended to achieve?
For a company developing the Adidas franchise, the goal is much broader than just a single store opening. Today, major brands are reshaping the traditional retail model. Adidas doesn’t have a single, classic chain of stores. The brand has launched several retail store formats tailored to different audiences: they differ not only in design but also in the logic behind their product assortment. The company has five such formats in total.
Home of Sport—the flagship format with the most extensive product lineup. These stores are opened in the largest concept locations.
Originals—focused on premium casual and designer styles.
Adidas Kids—stores for children.
Factory Outlet—targeted at mass retail, featuring past collections and carry-over items with significant discounts.
And Pulse New Beat—representing the brand’s core, that is, current and latest collections.
Our goal is to create a clear connection between the consumer and the brand. Customers should know exactly where to go when they want authentic Adidas products. That’s why we’re opening stores of various formats in Moldova.
The first was the Adidas Factory Outlet, which is now operating successfully at Port Mall. It primarily features past and carry-over collections, and price and discounts play a significant role in purchasing decisions. The logic behind the format is simple: customers are looking for brand-name products at more attractive prices.
The new Concept Store offers a different experience. The store is designed around the modern retail concept “Pulse—A New Beat.” The focus is on the latest Adidas collections, a wider selection of styles and colors, and both sports and lifestyle lines.
Thus, these are not two identical stores, but two distinct offerings that do not compete directly with one another but rather complement each other.
How will this difference be experienced in practice? What will shoppers find at Grand Hall that isn’t available at your other stores?
First, while the Factory Outlet is geared toward price-conscious shoppers, the Adidas Concept Store shifts the focus to the latest products, selection, and service. Second, the store will feature the current Adidas lineup: Originals, the kids’ collection, Z.N.E., professional running models, and other current product lines. The product range is significantly more extensive. For example, in the footwear segment, we plan to carry about 300 models—that’s more than 2,500 pairs. In apparel, there will be over 1,000 clothing styles.
In other words, shoppers will not only have access to the current collections but also the opportunity to choose from a wide variety of styles and colors within each category.
Such a product range requires substantial retail space. What are the project’s specifications?
The total area will be about 1,000 square meters, which is a significant scale for a single-brand sports store in Moldova. This allows the brand to be presented on a much broader scale than within a traditional retail outlet.
I should note that, according to the “Pulse—A New Beat” concept, customers should experience Adidas as the brand wants to present itself today—with current collections, new technologies, and a more comprehensive product presentation. Modern sports retail is changing. It is no longer enough for a store to simply pack as many products as possible into its retail space. Dynamic architecture, product selection, lighting, navigation, and visual merchandising must all work together as a unified space. It is precisely based on this principle that we created the new Adidas Concept Store in Chisinau.
Why was Grand Hall chosen for the new launch? There are plenty of other shopping centers in the capital with larger floor space.
Several factors played a role here. First and foremost, Adidas already has a history of presence at the Grand Hall shopping center. Shoppers have been accustomed to seeing the brand here since 2015.
In addition, it’s in the city center, with easy access and convenient parking. That’s why we’re bringing the brand back to Grand Hall with a new format. It’s important to us that this shopping center is recognized by Moldovan shoppers as the main venue where most world-class sports brands are concentrated.
In this project, Adidas acts not only as a supplier but also as a franchisor. How strict are your partner’s requirements?
Franchising in this case does not mean a free interpretation of the concept at the local level. Adidas is involved in virtually all key stages of the store’s launch and ongoing operations. During the preparation of the facility, every stage—equipment delivery, zoning, product group placement, and visual design—was coordinated with the brand.
The same principle applies after the store opens. Adidas determines the overall logic of how collections are presented, the featured products from its global campaigns, and the requirements for price tags and promotional materials. Even marketing promotions are coordinated with the brand, and sales and inventory are subject to regular monitoring. At the same time, we retain the ability to adapt all orders to reflect demand in the Moldovan market.
As a franchisor, Adidas provides its partner with a ready-made operational model, standards, visual identity, product requirements, and a control system. As a result, shoppers perceive each store not as a local version of Adidas, but as part of the brand’s unified international retail system. This is one of the key features of working with an international team.
Who do you see as the primary customer for the new store? Who is your target customer?
The Concept Store’starget audienceextends beyond professional sports: it has long since moved beyond the stadium. The line between sports and everyday fashion has practically disappeared. Sneakers, which were once viewed exclusively as athletic shoes, have become one of the main elements of the modern wardrobe. Therefore, our customer is someone who embraces an active lifestyle in the broadest sense: some come for workout gear, others for everyday shoes, and still others are looking for clothing for travel or outdoor activities.
The Concept Store is designed precisely for this audience, for whom sports and everyday life are no longer separate from one another.
And finally, one more area of focus. How interesting is the corporate segment for Adidas, and what projects are you developing there?
One area is our work with fitness clubs and trainers as part of the Adidas Fitness Trainer program. We provide trainers with gear that they use directly during workouts. It’s important to us that the product be evaluated by people who professionally understand what sports apparel and footwear should be like in real-world conditions.
Program participants receive a 30% discount on Adidas products, and their clients receive a 10% discount using the trainer’s personal QR code. But what matters most to us is this: the trainer wears the gear themselves, tests it in action, and only then recommends it to their clients.
Essentially, Adidas Fitness Trainer allows us to build direct relationships with the professional community—through people who are immersed in the sports environment every day. For us, this is more valuable than conventional advertising: the product is endorsed by someone who actually uses it.
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